Celina's nine yards of glory

Kumaoni songs are the inspiration behind the actress' fabulous pictures. Celina longs to do a Bangla film

The gorgeous Celina Jaitley sure is a die-hard optimist, a fact that reflects in her attitude and approach to all aspects of life.

That’s what one learns when one meets her at photographer Mahendra Soni's studio, where the former beauty queen is doing a photo-shoot. We catch the stunner, draped in a maroon sari with a fairly good amount of zardozi work, wearing loads of jewellry. She steps in front of the camera, her long wavy tresses flowing, striking one great pose after another.

Reacting to the lensman’s exclamations of "Wow!, Great Shot!, Keep it going!" Ms Jaitley says, "For better pictures, you’ve to play Kumaoni songs," and explains, "My father is from the Kumaoni regiment in the army," to the puzzled looks on our faces.

When the photographer chides her for not following her father’s footsteps of serving the nation, Celina responds, "By working in the industry, I’m providing the service of entertainment to the people who see my films." Talking of which, the actress is looking forward to Apna Sapna Money Money, where she plays Sanya, "a con girl who comes across as characterless," in her own terms.

VikramBhatt's Red and Ananth Mahadevan’s Anamika are Celina's major assignments for now

Recalling the moment she heard the narration from director Sangeeth Sivan, she says, "I was like 'Wow!' I thought I was lucky to be offered such an interesting role of a con girl who has no qualms about using her sexuality to manipulate people.

Playing a character far removed from her real self, Celina says, "I didn’t work by any reference, but followed my director’s vision and acted accordingly."

Considering that co-star Ritesh Deshmukh pretends to be a girl for a fair duration in the film, did she gang up with her female costars like Koena Mitra and Riya Sen to rag him? "I didn’t really shoot much with the other girls, so there’s no question of ganging up with them to rag Ritesh, which I wouldn’t do otherwise, either. In fact, most of my scenes are with Jackie Shroff, Suniel Shetty, apart from Ritesh."

It’s time for another change and Celina takes a break to get into another outfit for the next shot. After a few minutes, she’s back, in yet another elaborately done sari, a blue one this time. Besides, she’s tied her hair in a bun, that’s covered by the sari pallo. "Are you doing yet another version of Devdas," the photographer teases. "Nah" she replies, "I didn’t do any Indian change during the last shoot, so I’m making up for it this time." "The last time I wore this sari was when I performed a couple of songs from Devdas with Shah Rukh Khan for a show," she informs.

Fast facts

Born on June 9, 1981
She became Miss India in 2001

Apart from

Apna Sapna Money Money

, Celina has two more films with Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts, one of which is scheduled to go on the floors this November. Till then, she’s busy playing a publicist in Suneel Darshan’s

Shakalaka Boom Boom

with Bobby Deol and Upen Patel. "Ever since I joined the industry, I’ve wanted to work with Suneel because his heroines have an important role to play in the movement of the story and he presents them well. Besides, Bobby and Upen are friends for a long time now, so it was great fun working with them."

Vikram Bhatt's

Red

and Ananth Mahadevan’s

Anamika

are her other major assignments. "My acting kitty is full with these films and I won’t do anything more, unless it’s really interesting and worth the time," she says, adding, “Red is Vikram Bhatt’s gift to me because it’s a fantastic role of a girl who is intense and passionate with a hint of mysteriousness."

On the personal front, Celina recently broke up with her

firang

beau Sean Teaque. Question her on what went wrong and she clams up, "It’s a closed chapter and I don’t wish to open it up again."